California: Oakland City Council Looking to Restrict your Second Amendment Rights!

Contact members of the Public Safety Committee OPPOSING the below measures!

On Tuesday, December 15, the Oakland City Council Public Safety Committee will be meeting to discuss several anti-gun related ordinances at 6 PM in the Sgt. Mark Dunakin room, on the first floor of City Hall.  The following ordinances and one resolution are on the agenda to be heard: 

• Ordinance 15-422 would ban unsecured concealable firearms, long guns, and ammunition in unattended vehicles.
• Ordinance 15-0423 would make it a crime for firearms, magazines or ammunition to be left unsecured in cars on the city street and make it a misdemeanor and punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. 
• Ordinance 15-0424 would make it unlawful to possess any "large-capacity" magazines in the city.
• Ordinance 15-0426, the Safe Storage Firearm Act, would require gun owners to keep their guns locked, either with a lock box or a trigger lock, while stored in their home.
• Ordinance 15-0427 would require concealed carry licensees to secure firearms in automobiles.
• Resolution 15-0425 would direct the city administrator to return to the council within four months with an ordinance requiring that city-issued firearms in automobiles must be secured.

Please contact the following committee members on the Public Safety committee and urge them to OPPOSE these unnecessary proposed ordinances.

Desley Broods, Chair – Phone: (510) 238-7006; Email: [email protected]

Noel Gallo – Phone: (510) 238-7005; Email: [email protected]

Abel Guillen - Phone: 510-238-7002

Dan Kalb - Phone: (510) 238-7001; Email: [email protected]

Below are some talking points opposing these issues.

High Capacity Ammunition Ban:

The federal “large-ammunition feeding device” ban of 1994-2004, authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), prohibited a private individual from possessing any magazine that held more than 10 rounds of ammunition.  The ban didn’t apply only to magazines that are used in “assault weapons” — the vast majority of which are rifles and shotguns — it also applied to a larger number of firearms of the type that gun control supporters have historically tried the hardest to get banned: handguns, particularly those designed for self-defense.  The number “10” was selected arbitrarily.  The federal “large-ammunition feeding device” ban of 1994-2004 is no longer in effect, because it DID NOT reduce violent crime AND it is a violation of a person’s right to possess and carry, including “all instruments that constitute bearable arms” as decided in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).

Safe Storage Act:

Trigger locks and other such devices can fail.

Trigger locks do not make firearms foolproof and are not substitutes for safe firearms handling practices, dictated by longstanding safety rules. Reliance on devices, rather than safety rules, can instill a false sense of security that can lead to problems when a device-less firearm is encountered.

Today, fatal firearm accidents are at an all-time low.

While the number of privately owned firearms has risen annually, the annual number of fatal firearm accidents has declined by 95% since 1904.

Comparing firearm accident rates (fatalities per 100,000) to other accident rates:

Data Source: National Center for Health Statistics

At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that all households are different and have different needs.  This reckless ordinance encompasses every home in the city, not only those with young children residing in them.  This one-size-fits-all approach is a solution to a non-existent problem and is both over-reaching and not based on fact. 

 Help Us Help You

Please help us fight for your right to choose to own a gun for sport, or to defend yourself and your family. The NRA and CRPA work together in California to fight for you, in cities and counties across the state, in regulatory agencies, and in the courts.  Even with the generous rates that our team of civil rights attorneys, legislative advocates, experts and consultants grant us, these ongoing efforts are still expensive. You can support our pro-Second Amendment efforts in California by donating to the NRA Legal Action Project.  All donations will be spent to specifically benefit California gun owners.

Second Amendment supporters should be careful about supporting litigation or other efforts promised by other individuals and groups that lack the experience, resources, skill, or legal talent to be successful. The NRA and CRPA national team of highly regarded civil rights attorneys, legislative advocates, and scholars has the experience, resources, skill and expertise needed to maximize the potential for victory in California’s often hostile political environments.

For a summary of some of the many actions the NRA and CRPA has taken on behalf of California gun owners, including the Peruta case, click here.